If you are not quite satisfied with the quality, health and population of your emerging plants, you may want to revisit your planting process and identify improvement areas for next year.

Residue Management
It is well documented that leaving residue on your fields improves soil moisture retention, water permeation, aeration, and tilth. Residue management techniques, when performed correctly, save you time and money in terms of labor, fuel, and equipment. In order to achieve success in this area, however, residue must be effectively moved before planting. Failure to do so can cause hairpinning, and worse yet, improper seed placement, leaving your yields with much to be desired and hurting your crops yield potential.

One way to ensure proper seed placement is to combine a coulter with your residue manager. After the residue manager moves the residue, the coulter loosens the soil, significantly reducing the potential for sidewall compaction in the seed trench. This process sets the stage for the planter opener, reducing planter bounce and allowing for more precise seed placement.

In addition, residue managers leave a smooth path for the planter’s gauge wheels, leaving you with a more uniform planting depth and the perfect seed environment for better emergence and quicker stands. If this is an area in which your crops need improvement, there are many varieties of coulters available, including coulter-residue manager combinations.

Seed Placement
If some of your stands are not looking as vibrant and healthy as others, you need to consider your placement options. Maximum germination requires that your planter deliver perfect depth and seed-to-soil contact. There are many available planting accessories to give your seeds the best environment to flourish. Small enhancements now in your existing equipment could improve your yields for next year and provide savings in time, labor, and fuel for years to come.
 

Fertilizer Placement
Perfect fertilizer placement is critical in all stages of growing plants, adding to your bottom line. An injection of fertilizer to the side helps to increase nutrient absorption and improve yield potential of the crop.

If your placement system is not effectively delivering fertilizer to the side and slightly below the seed, your plants are not receiving the nutrients they need for maximum yield, and it may be time to look into other options.

You see, placing fertilizer to the side and just below the seed brings it in direct contact with the root zone, and as time passes and more roots develop, they also encounter the fertilizer. This means that your crop roots are coming into continual direct contact with the fertilizer for an ongoing boost during critical growth stages and working through the growth life of the plant.

If you are experiencing problems in this area of your operation, coulters may, again, be the answer. Fertilizer coulters enable you to achieve the pinpoint placement that your crops need and consequently to increase yields. There are many fertilizer coulters available to meet your operation’s unique needs. Whether you are using dry, liquid, or suspension fertilizer, coulters place the nutrients where the plant can utilize it most effectively. True precision nutrient placement equipment hits the root zone regardless of tillage practice and regardless of when fertilizer is applied—pre- or post-emergence, strip-till, mid-row banding or side dress.